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At the beginnings of 2006: major Brazilian Internet portals released channels for its users participation as news providers.

To analyze this scenario we present preliminary data about the status of participatory journalism initiatives undertaken by the main portals of the Brazilian web.

Our main assumption is that the major portals in the country have not still been able to adopt participatory journalism in depht and breadth of the experience reported by the original participatory concept.

A strong concentration of information in digital environments originally created to access the web - the so called portals

Portal news:

Traffic atractor

Sources: international agencies feed, proprietary newsrooms and connection to a journalistic traditional brand

Web use in Brazil shows, as studies conducted by Ibope / NetRatings, that, primarily, the users get information through the portals, to then browse on newspapers websites

The reader's engagement on information production is difficult.

Genneraly, the vehicles use the material sent by internet users as a source of information;

The news processing is performed by professional journalists responsible for websites, a practice that tends to discourage the "old reader" to become the protagonist of news process, or making this a conversation

In 34% (55) of the cases, only one source of information is mentioned - in some cases, the source is the individual citizen reporter, paradoxical practice for the purpose of participatory journalism that will be addressed forward.

In 14% (23) cases two sources are mentioned, and in only two subjects, or 1% of cases are cited three or more sources.

Good mix: the work of the citizen reporter to the journalist contribution

Portal Globo:75% (44) is characterized as flagrant

Newsroom enrichment of news before publishing

Snapshot journalist

The newsroom practice is to quote, sometines, the citizen reporter information

The citizen reporter does not develop activities of investigation, but believes that being at relevant events, book them soon either by pictures or videos, and refers them with small essays on the major portals

Citizen’s news are an additional channel for receiving information as well as a single source or of the advisory press

Credibility: possible presence of commercial and marketing content in the mainstream news

The participatory journalism in Brazil would not arouse the reader's engagement with the production of information - much less the vehicles show this concern, to use the material sent by Internet users as mere starting point for a process of investigation.

Assigning the channels of UGC evaluated in the main Brazilian portals as the label of citizen journalism becomes dangerous, especially within the theoretical frame of reference outlined by Bruns

Brazilian web users that are involved in these services the title of citizen reporter in conceptualization of Bowman and Willis, as practice involves a former "reader" as the protagonist of news process, not only as adjuvant.